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EFL player turned commentator turns up at wrong stadium ahead of game

One particular former EFL player turned commentator turns up at the wrong stadium ahead of a League One game on Wednesday night.

Gabriel Zakuani, currently manager of Northern Premier League Division One South East side Spalding United, turned up to the former home of AFC Wimbledon instead of their newer ground.

He took to his social media account, posting about the embarrassing moment, and posted photos of Kingsmeadow stadium, rather than their new home at Plough Lane.

The EFL player turned commentator wrote: “Imagine turning up at the wrong stadium 😂😂😂 supposed to be on commentary for @BBCCambsSport. I forgot AFC Wimbledon had a new gaff #pufc.

Gabriel Zakuani’s career

2003–2006 – Leyton Orient – 87 apps (3 goals)
2006–2009 – Fulham
2007 → Stoke City (loan) – 9 apps (0 goals)
2007–2008 → Stoke City (loan) – 19 apps (0 goals)
2008–2009 → Peterborough United (loan) – 32 apps (1 goal)
2009–2014 – Peterborough United – 148 apps (4 goals)
2014 – Kalloni – 15 apps (1 goal)
2014–2016 – Peterborough United – 46 apps (4 goals)
2016–2017 – Northampton Town – 21 apps (2 goals)
2017–2019 – Gillingham – 69 apps (0 goals)
2019–2020 – Swindon Town – 6 apps (0 goals)
2020 – Dagenham & Redbridge – 1 app (0 goals)
Total – 483 apps (15 goals)

National team
2013–2017 – DR Congo 29 apps (0 goals)

AFC Wimbledon was initially based at Kingsmeadow, a ground shared with Isthmian League club Kingstonian until 2017, and with Chelsea Women from 2017.

In December 2017, the club received final permission to begin work on the construction of a new stadium on the site of the defunct Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium, only 200 yards (183 metres) away from Plough Lane, Wimbledon FC’s home until 1991.

The new stadium opened during the 2020–21 season and has an initial capacity of 9,300, with the option of expansion to a maximum 20,000 at a later date.

However Gabriel Zakuani didn’t realise they had moved to their new stadium and instead he drove himself to their old one instead, arriving at 5:09pm.

An hour later and he finally made it to AFC Wimbledon’s new Plough Lane stadium, posting a snap of himself ready for commentary with BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.

He gave updates on AFC Wimbledon picking up their first ever win at their new home, beating Peterborough United 2-1 in a League One fixture on Wednesday.

The result, with Joe Pigott getting the all important decisive goal, meant that his side climb up to 11th in the League One table, with the Posh 3rd but struggling form wise of recent weeks.

AFC Wimbledon manager Glyn Hodges hopes his side’s 2-1 victory over Peterborough United can be the start of a positive run in their new stadium.

“I like it here now we’ve got a win!” Hodges said.

“It’s our third game here, and being greedy we thought we might have won the first two, but this has come against one of the best teams in the league so we’re delighted.

“We said to the boys to get the monkey off our backs, and we’ve managed to do that. We’ve been enjoying playing away, but this is a great environment and the boys enjoy playing here, so hopefully there are more positive results to come.”

After a hectic recent schedule, this was AFC Wimbledon’s fifth game in 11 days, and Hodges made four changes from the side that lost to Crawley on the weekend.

With December always a busy month in the football calendar, the Dons’ boss believes the squad depth he has at his disposal is ensuring standards remain high.

“Today they worked their socks off, and now it’s about recovering and going again Saturday,” Hodges said.

“There’s some that haven’t been happy to have not been playing, and a couple of them got their chance tonight and did fantastically.

“There’s a carrot for every single one of them – every position has people pushing each other, and I’m more than happy changing personnel because we’ve got a good squad and it gives us a chance to win every game.

“This win is a confidence booster, and shows we’re more than happy to play anyone and go toe-to-toe with them.”

“I like it here now we’ve got a win!” Hodges said.

“It’s our third game here, and being greedy we thought we might have won the first two, but this has come against one of the best teams in the league so we’re delighted.

“We said to the boys to get the monkey off our backs, and we’ve managed to do that. We’ve been enjoying playing away, but this is a great environment and the boys enjoy playing here, so hopefully there are more positive results to come.”

After a hectic recent schedule, this was their fifth game in 11 days. December is set to be another busy month in the football calendar, the and the Dons’ boss believes the squad depth he has at his disposal is ensuring standards remain high.

“Today they worked their socks off, and now it’s about recovering and going again Saturday,” Hodges said.

“There’s some that haven’t been happy to have not been playing, and a couple of them got their chance tonight and did fantastically.

“There’s a carrot for every single one of them – every position has people pushing each other, and I’m more than happy changing personnel because we’ve got a good squad and it gives us a chance to win every game.

“This win is a confidence booster, and shows we’re more than happy to play anyone and go toe-to-toe with them.”

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